Microsoft has announced a number of updates for Azure, its fast-growing cloud computing platform. Azure and other cloud services benefit a lot from the amount of data generated by IoT (Internet of Things) devices.

Companies will now be building their own comprehensive digital models of any physical environment with Microsoft Azure Digital Twins.

Azure Sphere, a microcontroller, is now broadly available, and developers can now get access to development kits. It comes with integrated cloud connectivity and a secure operating system. Microsoft is probably planning to sell the services through Azure Sphere.

The company has upgraded its IoT provisioning service Map Control API (application programming interface) and its IoT hub message routing tools.

The software giant is also making Azure IoT Central generally available. It’s a SaaS2-based IoT service for businesses.

The company also said its Azure IoT platform will support Google’s (GOOG) Android and the Android Things platform through Microsoft’s Java SDK (software developer’s kit).

Source: Microsoft Is Betting Big on Internet of Things | Market Realist

The Internet of Things (IoT) platforms market is set to expand rapidly in the years to come, with current leading platforms expanding and others entering the space. Business Insider claims that there will be more than 24 billion IoT devices on Earth by 2020. The Internet of Things (IoT) is the inter-networking of physical devices, vehicles, buildings, and other items embedded with electronics, software, sensors, actuators, and network connectivity that enable things to collect and exchange data.

According to the data collected by HP at different time intervals, dating back to the 90’s, there were already 0.3 million people in the world in 1990 that were using IoT to lower their human labour.

The connected devices that were mostly used by early adapters of IoT in the UK, Germany, Japan, USA, are as follow:

Source: Debunking the Various Applications of the Internet of Things | iSoCIAL

It’s been almost exactly one year since lawmakers — prompted by a massive cyberattack that disabled huge chunks of the Internet — floated a bipartisan bill to set the first cybersecurity standards for the broad group of devices known as the Internet of Things.

In the time since, Congress hasn’t done much with the legislation from Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.) and Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) introduced in August 2017. But security researchers at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas tell me there’s only more urgency now to boost security of connected devices, which include connected thermostats, smartwatches, pacemakers and even shower heads (yes, really).

Source: The Cybersecurity 202: Here’s what security researchers want policymakers to know about the Internet of Things | The Washington Post

Big companies plan to double their annual spending on smart, Internet-connected devices like video surveillance gear and factory sensors over the next four years to an annual total of $520 billion, according to a new report from consulting firm Bain & Co.

The estimate, which includes purchases of devices, software, and related services, is up from a projected $450 billion for 2020 made by Bain in its previous survey about the topic in 2016. The higher forecast shows businesses are increasing their appetite for connected devices alongside growing consumer demand for everything from smart speakers to Wi-Fi connected lightbulbs.

Source: Internet of Things Market Could Hit $520 Billion By 2021, Bain Says | Fortune

The surge of devices used by K–12 students is putting a strain on school district networks, causing IT teams to consider adopting the Internet of Things.

Bringing IoT into schools maintains connectivity for students and teachers during the day, through both personal devices and classroom tools like smartboards, Kellie Wilks, chief technology officer of Ector County Independent School District, TX, told EdTech magazine at the ISTE 2018 conference.

“If we can provide the Wi-Fi and the connectivity to any device it becomes more personalized learning,” Wilks said.

Source: K–12 Districts Prepare Their Infrastructures for the Internet of Things | EdTech

Brian Foster, Head of Industry Finance at Siemens Financial Services in the UK, considers how digitalised technology will transform the UK’s manufacturing industry and how new financing methods are key to this development.

Manufacturing is changing rapidly as advancements in new generation digitalised technology (also known as Industry 4.0) are helping to transform the production process through greater integration of physical production with digital technologies, such as robotics, software, sensors, virtual reality and 3D printing to name but a few. The connection of devices or appliances to the Internet (known as the Internet of Things) is a core pillar of the digitalisation of manufacturing, enabling manufacturers to monitor and swiftly act upon data flowing from connected people, machines and systems.[1] These changes will allow manufacturers to innovate more rapidly and increase revenues through greater efficiency and agility.

Source: Transforming manufacturing with the Internet of Things | Industry Europe

Today’s battlefield is highly technical and dynamic. We are not only fighting people and weapons but also defending and attacking information at light speed. For mission success, the American warrior in the field and commanders up the chain need the support of highly adaptive systems that can quickly and securely establish reliable communications and deliver real-time intelligence anytime and anywhere.

This is not a new requirement, but it’s becoming ever more pressing with the explosion of the Internet of Things (IoT) and increasing scores of data, which can be both a blessing and a curse for the Defense Department. On one hand, IoT presents tremendous opportunity to deliver unprecedented situational awareness to the warfighter. On the other, this wealth of information threatens to overload systems as well as the warfighter.

Source: Dealing with the Internet of Warfare | SIGNAL Magazine

Volkswagen said today (23 August) the automobile would evolve into a central hub in the Internet of Things.

“VWs will increasingly become digital devices on wheels,” sales chief Juergen Stackmann told a press conference in Berlin.

“Our customers will become part of an ecosystem that we have named ‘We’. This system complements the experience on wheels and enables customers to take their world into their vehicle,” he said, adding the brand hoped open interfaces would also encourage third parties to participate in creating a strong community by contributing their own software.

Source: VW sees cars as Internet of Things hubs | Automotive Industry News | just-auto

There is certainly much excitement these days surrounding the Internet of Things (IoT), which has become one the most hyped expressions in technology across industries as well as government. Projected to have 25 billion end-points connected to the global network come 2021, its growth is driven by both consumer and enterprise adoption.

Highlighting what is in store, it has been predicted by IDC that in 2025 a total of 180 trillion gigabytes of new data will be generated in that year from around 80 billion connected devices. And, the amount of data from IoT that will be analyzed and utilized to change business processes will be as large as the amount of all the data created in 2020.

Source: Bitcoin Aside, Can Blockchain Boost Enterprise IoT Adoption And Speed Up ROI? | Forbes

Click Here to Kill Everybody: Security and Survival in a Hyper-connected World Bruce Schneier W. W. Norton (2018)

Hardly a day now passes without reports of a massive breach of computer security and the theft or compromise of confidential data. That digital nightmare is about to get much worse, asserts security technologist Bruce Schneier in Click Here to Kill Everybody, his critique of government inertia on Internet security.

The burgeoning threat, writes Schneier, arises from the rapid expansion of online connectivity to billions of unsecured nodes. The Internet of Things, in which physical objects and devices are networked together, is well on its way to becoming an Internet of Everything. Over the past decade or so, a growing number of products have been sold with embedded software and communications capacity: household appliances, cars, medical instruments and even clothing can now be monitored and controlled from afar. More of the same is on the way, as smart homes yield to smart cities and automated systems assume a larger role in the management of critical infrastructure. The Stuxnet computer worm used to attack Iran’s uranium-enrichment programme remotely in 2010 was an early, audacious indicator of the threat.

Source: Governments want your smart devices to have stupid security flaws | Nature